Learning bib

ABSTRACT

A child&#39;s bib used for educational activities having an elongate body portion such that the wearer can interact with objects and or words inscribed on the elongate body portion. The inscriptions include various indicia providing learning activities to engage the wearer&#39;s attention. The inscriptions are upside-down relative to a front face viewer but are right-side up as viewed by the child wearing the bib. The bib is an adaptable garment which may include one or more re-attachable patches. These patches may be letters, color strips, animals, or other concept images, and the sort, which can be removed. The indicia or patches are used to educationally stimulate the child wearer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention generally relates to children's garment and also to the field of teaching aides which can be worn, and more particularly to articles of clothing adapted for interaction with a child, infant or learner.

[0003] 2. Background of Related Art

[0004] Articles of clothing such as bibs, aprons, smocks, and the like have long been used for the protection of clothing worn by infants or children while engaging in activities such as eating or playing. Since these articles are used for children, often times they are decorated with bright primary colors and designs pleasing to children. U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,428 to Waldman et al teaches of a general bib with applied ornamentation. These articles may also serve multiple uses as suggested by U.S. Pat. No. 2,461,430 to Mack demonstrating the bib device as a greeting card.

[0005] Often times garments are used for educational purposes which provide insignas, alphabet, pictures and the like. The U.S. Patent to Lenart, U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,152 discloses educational children's clothing having a plurality of pockets displaying educational concepts. The U.S. Patent to Poskanzer (U.S. Pat. No. 5,943,697) also teaches of an educational garment which permits reversible adhesion with attachable stickers on the garment. These stickers are disclosed as educational or entertainment articles.

[0006] The above examples have recognized the use of clothing as a valuable forum for the education and appeasement of children. Some in this field have gone as far as providing educational clothing that is to be worn by the adult rather than the child. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,724,101 issued to Slezak discloses a teaching cape having numerous patch pockets with detachable patches for aiding in alphabet and phonics instruction. Similarly, the U.S. Patent to Bull et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,710,979 discloses another garment for use by an adult where herein the mother wears an apron to actively participate in the baby's play which involves detaching or reattaching two-dimensional cut out toys to the front of the apron. Bull et at teaches of a variety of detachment tasks being performed by the child while the mother monitors or assists in directing the infant. Akin to the above mentioned is the Wright, Jr. child activity bib (U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,323). Wright, Jr. also discloses a garment to be worn by an adult while presented for interaction by a child facing the adult. This garment provides a plurality of pull tabs providing the educational activity means.

[0007] What is missing from all the prior art is an article such as a bib used for educational means wherein the wearer engages in a self-induced activity. Unfortunately, each of the educational and entertainment oriented garments known hereto suffer from a common drawback in that they fail to give the wearer, i.e., the child, self-motivated learning activities with the clothes/garment that the child is wearing. There are no teachings of articles of clothes worn by an infant or child which are specifically designed to actively interact with the wearer to stimulate the senses in mental and physical development.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] Therefore, the principle feature and advantage of this invention is to provide an improved bib, a learning bib, which permits stimulating interactive indicia located on the garment. Instead of providing a garment to be worn by an adult, and instead of having inscriptions which interact with the wearer in a passive manner or in a purely decorative manner, the present invention overcomes this with indicia displayed in an upside-down manner but is actually right-side-up relative to the wearer. Thus, the present invention permits the infant/child wearing the garment to actively learn and play while wearing the garment.

[0009] The preferred embodiment of the present invention is a bib worn around the neck of a child adapted to engage the attention of the wearer with learning elements inscribed in an upside down manner, relative to a front-face viewer. Such an inscription, which is right side up relative to the wearer, is displayed on an elongated body portion of the bib.

[0010] Other embodiments include a bib or apron-type device as described above, but may have patches, tabs, stickers or the sort which may be adhesively re-attachable by the wearer.

[0011] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated and constitute part of this disclosure, illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention and serve to explain the principles of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0012]FIG. 1 is a frontal view of the learning bib.

[0013]FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment with side-snap fastening means.

[0014]FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the bib having removable patches.

[0015]FIG. 3A illustrates an alternative to the embodiment of FIG. 3.

[0016]FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of the bib adapted for playing music.

[0017]FIG. 4A is a cut-away perspective view of the sound means of the FIG. 4 embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] The disclosed learning bib as seen in FIG. 1 illustrates a garment having securing means 20, neck portion 30 and elongate body portion 40. The elongate body portion 40 is shown with indicia 50 on the front side of bib displayed in an upside-down manner relative to a front face viewer but is actually right-side up relative to the wearer, as shown in FIG. 1. For the purposes of this invention, the term “indicia” includes any writing, marks, symbols, pictures, figures, numbers, drawings or the like, or any combination thereof. The indicia 50 is inscribed on the elongate body portion 40. The inscriptions may be embroidered, embossed, stitched, silk screened, or any other suitable means to provide the images as a permanent part of the fabric.

[0019] Since the indicia 50 is provided for the benefit of the wearer, the elongate body portion 40 is longer than traditional bibs. Traditional bibs generally have lengths which do not extend much beyond the chest area and averaging between 5 and 8 inches, measured from the neck. The bib of the present invention provides an elongated body portion 40, characterized by L in FIG. 1, which extends from the chest area to the torso. The elongated length measures in a range between 6 to 12 inches. This length, L, characterizes the distance from the top of the base of the neck portion 35 to the distal end of the bib 45. This elongated length is designed particularly to allow the wearer to best view the indicia inscribed on the bib.

[0020] Various securing means 20 can be employed to fasten the respective ends of the bib. The securing means 20 fastens the upper end of the bib around the neck of the wearer. These securing means may comprise first and second fastening means. For instance, first and second strings may comprise the securing means which may be secured to the neck by tying the respective ends of the strings together behind the neck of the wearer, as illustrated in FIG. 2A. Alternatively, snaps, buckles, buttons and flexible fasteners such as Velcro® or the like may be employed to secure the bib to the wearer.

[0021] The learning bib may include manipulation means which comprises a plurality of patches 60 which may be releasably attachable to the elongate body portion 40 of said bib. As shown in FIG. 3, the elongate body portion 40 may have matching phantom indicia 55 displayed in or on the fabric which match the patches 60, whereby said patches 60 can be selectively removed from and reattached to said phantom indicia 55 as a part of a learning exercise. The patches may be attached and reattached by any suitable temporary adhesion means such as magnetic attaching means or temporary adhesion stickers. These patches may be letters, color strips, animals, or other concept images, and the sort, which can be removed. Said learning exercises may be self-induced by the wearer or may be guided by an adult instructing the child through various learning activities. The removable patches serves to as stimulate inquisitiveness as well as test and stimulate the child's hand-eye coordination skills by encouraging manipulation via the hands. The removable patches also serve to facilitate cleaning of the bib.

[0022]FIG. 3A illustrates the embodiment which is a derivative of the FIG. 3 embodiment wherein patches are utilized. However, FIG. 3A illustrates the use of removable patches without the guidance of phantom indicia to guide placement of the patches. Herein, the patches may be used for placement at will while guided by the educational concept inscribed on the bib. For example, arithmetical exercises may be performed wherein the patches may be placed to produce mathematical expressions such as addition and subtraction. Again, the removable patches aide in the cleaning of the bib.

[0023] In as much as music is a well known educational component, the disclosed invention may be adapted to play music. FIG. 4 illustrates a learning bib with indicia 50 including figures and inscriptions representative of songs adapted to be played by the bib. FIG. 4A illustrates a cut-away view of the bib of FIG. 4 to show means for producing music such as a sound chip 80. The sound chip 80 may be embedded between insulative layers of the bib. Said insulation 70 may comprise plastics for protecting the chip from liquids. The insulation 70 may also comprise padding layers to further protect the chip.

[0024] The learning bib is designed with the idea of it being worn by a learner with educational means designed to interact with an infant or child wearer, However, the wearer need not necessarily be young and may also include those persons, youth and adult, with various learning disabilities. The bib as disclosed may also be used for an adult during rehabilitative learning exercises for recovery from mental illnesses, such as amnesia or the like, which may require mental rehabilitation exercises.

[0025] The present invention described herein represents a small aspect of how the learning bib can be used for educational purposes. For example, child group exercises can be performed wherein children wearing the same or similar learning bibs can be performed wherein children may be required to participate in specific game-type activities and so forth.

[0026] The learning bib described herein is exemplary and are provided merely to show how the bib is used in a manner that provides fin intellectual exercises while simultaneously developing visual perceptions, motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

[0027] The present invention has been described in detail with particular reference to these preferred embodiments, other embodiments can achieve similar results. For example, the garment may take the form of a smock, or an apron. The garment may also include any article of clothing such as shirts, sweaters, pants, gloves, skirts and so on. However whichever the garment, the inverted indicia is a key factor to the object of the invention. Variations and modifications of the present invention will be obvious to those skilled in the art and it is intended to cover in the appended claims all such modifications and equivalents. It is therefore intended that all matters in the foregoing description and shown in the accompanying drawings be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. Thus, the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A bib-type garment adapted to provide self-induced learning activities, said garment comprising, a neck portion having a base portion and securing means, an elongate body portion extending beyond the chest of the wearer, said elongate body portion having indicia inscribed providing educational concepts to actively interact with the wearer, said indicia is provided right-side-up relative to the wearer and upside down to a frontal observer.
 2. The bib-type garment of claim 1 wherein, said securing means is located at the rear of the neck portion, said securing means further comprising fastening means consisting of the group of Velcro® fasteners, first and second string ties, buttons or loop fasteners.
 3. The bib-type garment of claim 1 wherein, said securing means is located at either front side of the neck portion, said securing means further comprising fastening means consisting of the group of Velcro® fasteners, first and second string ties, buttons or loop fasteners.
 4. The bib-type device of claim 1 wherein, said elongate body portion has a length, L, measuring from the base of the neck portion to the distal end of the elongate body portion, wherein L ranges from 6-12 inches extending into the torso area of the wearer.
 5. The bib-type device of claim 1 further comprising removable and reattachable patches, said patches providing additional learning activities in conjunction with the educational concepts provided by the indicia, said patches being temporarily adhesively attached and reattached by adhesions means on the elongate body portion.
 6. The bib-type device of claim 5 wherein the elongate body portion contains phantom inidicia inscribed on the elongate body portion for guiding placement of the patches.
 7. An article of clothing to be worn for learning an educational concept, said article of clothing consisting of indicia inscribed onto the article provided right-side-up relative to the wearer and upside down as viewed by a front face observer such that it presents learning activities to actively engage the wearer.
 8. The article clothing of claim 7 wherein said indicia providing the educational concept is presented via any combination of numerical, arithmetic, alphabetical, or musical means.
 9. The article of clothing of claim 8 wherein said indicia is presented in various languages.
 10. The article of clothing of claim 7 wherein said article further comprises musical means, said musical means further comprising a sound chip embedded into said clothing providing corresponding sounds or music relating to the educational concepts provided by the indicia.
 11. The article of clothing of claim 9 further comprising removable and reattachable patches, said patches providing additional learning activities in conjunction with the educational concepts provided by the indicia, said patches being temporarily adhesively attached and reattached with adhesion means on the article.
 12. A bib to be worn by an infant or child providing educational concepts via direct learning activities adapted to interact directly with the wearer, said bib comprising, a neck portion having a base portion and securing means, an elongate body portion extending beyond the chest of the wearer, said elongate body portion having inscribed indicia providing educational concepts to actively interact with the wearer, said indicia is provided right-side-up relative to the wearer and upside down to a frontal observer.
 13. The bib of claim 12 wherein, said elongate body portion has a length, L, measuring from the base of the neck portion to the distal end of the elongate body portion, wherein L ranges from 6-12 inches extending into the torso area of the wearer.
 14. The bib of claim 13 wherein, said securing means is located at the rear of the neck portion, said securing means further comprising fastening means in the group consisting of Velcro® fasteners, first and second string ties, buttons or loop fasteners.
 15. The bib of claim 13, wherein said securing means is located at either front side of the neck portion, said securing means further comprising fastening means in the group consisting of Velcro® fasteners, first and second string ties, buttons or loop fasteners.
 16. The bib of claim 13 wherein said indicia providing the educational concept is presented via any combination of numerical, arithmetic, alphabetical, or musical means.
 17. The bib of claim 16, wherein said indicia is presented in various languages.
 18. The bib of claim 17, further comprising removable and reattachable patches, said patches providing additional learning activities in conjunction with the educational concepts provided by the indicia, said patches being temporarily adhesively attached and reattached with adhesion means on the elongate body portion.
 19. The bib of claim 18 wherein the elongate body portion contains phantom inidicia inscribed on the elongate body portion for guiding placement of the patches.
 20. The bib of claim 12, further comprising musical means, said musical means further comprising a sound chip embedded into said clothing providing corresponding sounds or music relating to the educational concepts provided by the indicia. 